In Philly, union members say they don't care about Biden's age: 'I never heard someone who is Catholic say the pope is too old'

• President Joe Biden addressed union supporters in Philadelphia on Saturday.
• Union members told Insider they are not too concerned about Biden's age or electability.

PHILADELPHIA — Under another president, Jaysin Saxton might not have a job.

A shift supervisor at Starbucks, the 32-year-old was fired last year after speaking out about the effort to unionize his workplace. He was reinstated months later following a complaint filed by the National Labor Relations Board — stacked with new, pro-union appointees since 2021 — with a federal judge ruling that his employer had illegally retaliated against him.

President Joe Biden and his administration have been allies and have given Starbucks workers "a platform, quite frankly," Saxton, who is from Augusta, Georgia, said in an interview, noting that organizers have been invited to the White House. "And because of that, we've been able to mobilize and fight for proposals that could greatly improve our lives."

Biden has largely governed as a friend of labor — its best friend in the years, if not ever, in the eyes of some union supporters. His appointments to the NLRB, which adjudicates disputes between companies and workers, have shifted power to workers. The board has sided not just with Starbucks organizers but has also recently declared that both non-disparagement and non-compete clauses are generally illegal.

Biden's path to reelection depends in part on touting those achievements and turning out union members in November 2024. It also runs through Pennsylvania, where the president spoke Saturday at a rally sponsored by the AFL-CIO, the country's largest union federation, which endorsed his reelection bid this week. Hundred of union members from across the country attended the rally.

"There are a lot of politicians in this country who can't say the word 'union,'" Biden said Saturday afternoon, supporters in colorful union merchandise cheering behind him. "You know I'm not one of them. I'm proud to say the word. I'm proud to be the most pro-union president in American history. I promised you I would be."

Biden needs unions — and Pennsylvania

This native son of Pennsylvania, born in Scranton 80 years ago, has now made no fewer than 10 official stops in the commonwealth since becoming president, and even more informal visits, including a jaunt this past April to the University of Pennsylvania, where his granddaughter, a student, put on an art show.

Biden's latest trip was all about politics and his own political future, which could well be decided by his state of birth. Pennsylvania, with 19 electoral votes up for grabs next year, is not just a bellwether but possibly the key to the White House. In 2016, former President Donald Trump won this swing state by about 48,000 votes; in 2020, the incumbent lost by more than 80,000.

But while Pennsylvania's Democratic Party has performed well in recent years, including the recent midterm elections, which are generally seen as a referendum on the incumbent president — winning the governor's office, sending John Fetterman to the US Senate, and taking over the state house for the first time in a decade — there are concerns among rank-and-file Democrats over whether Biden can repeat his 2020 performance.

Several union members who spoke to Insider tried to address concerns over Biden's age and dismal polling by speaking about the coalition that would propel him to a second term and what that coalition could achieve, emphasizing policy more than the man himself — and contrasting it with the cult of personality formed around some of his rivals.

A nurse from Queens, Mary Samaroo, pointed to the president's executive order, issued in April, that instructs the Department of Health and Human Services to consider minimum staffing requirements for medical facilities such as nursing homes. That would provide welcome relief, Samaroo, a member of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, told Insider, describing a status quo where nurses are overworked and patients are denied adequate care.

"Pushing for this safe staffing will give us the ability to ensure that each patient gets the care that they need," Samaroo said. "If we all mobilize around him, he will be able to do what has to be done."

Although Biden can point to some major legislative victories already, including an infrastructure bill that will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the state, he himself remains stubbornly unpopular, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere: He last enjoyed a favorable approval rating in August 2021, the month that US troops withdrew from Afghanistan.

A recent fall on stage has also served as a reminder of the president's advanced age. Trump, his chief Republican rival, is just three years younger and facing multiple felony charges after trying and failing to overturn his 2020 election loss. But, just over 500 days from the election, Trump is in a statistical dead heat to return to the White House.

The age question

Nora Dumenigo, an immigrant from Cuba who works as a cleaner at Miami International Airport, is supporting Biden "because he has helped us a lot in difficult moments," she said in Spanish, pointing to efforts earlier in his presidency to address the pandemic.

A member of the SEIU, she thinks he offers the best chance to improve pay and health care for laborers like her. Those supporting Trump or other Republican candidates, she argued, have lost touch with workers.

"They are people who are comfortable and who simply think about what benefits them, but do not think about what harms everyone else," Dumenigo said.

But what about his age? Biden would be 82 at the start of a second term, and his periodic trips and gaffes have been fodder for right-wing critics. At Saturday's rally, however, union members insisted it is not a concern — and that the discourse around it is an indictment of the times.

"I think, unfortunately, we live in a culture where we don't honor folks with more experience," Renee Dozier, an electrician from Boston and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, or IBEW, said in an interview. "He is older, yes, but he has that experience, and he has the wisdom, and he has the discernment. And we need to honor that and use it while we have it."

Mike Brown, a security officer at a local community college and an SEIU member, said his vote was indeed based on the incumbent's long track record in public office. "I'm supporting Joe Biden because he's an advocate for the unions, and he fought for them even before he became president," he said. His age, he suggested, is an asset — and the discussions around it a distraction.

"I never heard someone who is Catholic say the pope is too old," Brown said.

Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com